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Tamiyo, Field Researcher is undeniably powerful. As one of the premier planeswalkers out of Eldritch Moon, finding a home for such a weapon is sure to yield some fantastic results.

Early on, Tamiyo appeared to be a natural fit for Bant Company. That deck is already reasonably aggressive, has plenty of creatures to use the plus ability on, and locking down some blockers can end a board stall. The problem being, of course, that Tamiyo is neither a creature nor a spell that costs 3 or less. There’s a natural lack of synergy with Collected Company.

Tamiyo is simply too powerful to be a singleton main-deck card or a sideboard option for the format’s former best archetype, however. There’s so much more you can do.

Perhaps she’s a better fit in a shell that’s lighter on creatures, but where they are still consistently able to get into combat. Even moreso, creatures with vigilance to get double-duty out of Tamiyo. Tamiyo may already see more play as an answer to Emrakul, the Promised End, as locking the Eldrazi for a turn or two can be completely game-swinging. Maybe it’s just supposed to be used in a more controlling midrange deck, using the minus ability to help set up sweepers when your opponents overextend.

There are many stones left unturned when it comes to Tamiyo, and today’s Bant Midrange deck takes advantage of a few as yet unexplored angles. Using creatures like Sylvan Advocate, Archangel Avacyn, and Dragonlord Ojutai, you’re going to be able to get in there consistently on offense. Perhaps you can even plus on your opponent’s creature and make them think twice about attacking into your open mana.

Spell Queller is awesome—everyone knows that—but how far can its influence reach? In a deck with Collected Company or other Spirits to help combo with it, this can be your best card, but it’s also amazing in a Tamiyo midrange shell. It lets you counter their 3-drop, get a Tamiyo into play when your opponent has very few creatures, and then start using the +1. You’ll draw a card off your Queller hitting, and even if they have a creature out to keep Tamiyo from going nuts, you’ll draw another card off that attack! Sure, your Spell Queller may die, but that tempo and card advantage will be tough to overcome.

It’s hard to get more interaction against a card like Emrakul than you have in this deck, but just in case, there are some Summary Dismissals in the sideboard as well.

Tamiyo Midrange comes at the format in a totally different way, but it really showcases the power of this planeswalker. There are so many ways to utilize a card this versatile, and I’m excited to see more as the format continues to unfold!

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Eric Froehlich, or “EFro,” is a top-level poker pro and old-school Magic pro who returned to the game in 2010 and put up 3 consecutive years of Platinum status. A 2015 Hall of Fame inductee, EFro has 4 Pro Tour Top 8s, 6 Pro Tour Top 16s, and 14 Grand Prix Top 8s. He designed some of the best Constructed decks on the Pro Tour before the advent of the internet, and helped propel team ChannelFireball to continued success for years. EFro also co-hosts Constructed Resources with Marshall Sutcliffe.